Ratings Explained

Why is this Rating Important for You and Your Family

In order to make good decisions when voting, it is important to know where your state Representatives and Senators stand on key issues. At UFIRE, our focus is on protecting Utahns from the negative impacts of illegal immigration. Therefore, the UFIRE ratings will show which elected officials are fighting to protect you and your interests and which Representatives and Senators give precedence to the interests of illegal aliens and to those who employ them.

UFIRE Rating Criteria

UFIRE’s 2009 ratings of Utah legislators on immigration related issues are based on the following criteria.

A demonstrated willingness of Representatives and Senators to listen to and seriously consider well thought out, factual information presented to them by their constituents.

A consistent record of putting the rights, safety and security of American citizens and legal residents ahead of the interests of the estimated 75% of illegal aliens who are committing serious felonies in order to get jobs.

A proven track record of standing up for the citizens and taxpayers of Utah in spite of extreme pressure from high paid lobbyists, powerful business interests and key civic and religious leaders who consistently support and defend illegal aliens who are committing multiple felonies.

A demonstrated willingness to recognize mistakes and take appropriate corrective action.

Votes on key illegal immigration related bills.

Background on the UFIRE Rating System

All too often groups rate Utah state Representative and Senators based on a limited number of carefully selected votes. This is unfair to the legislators as well as to the public because it too narrowly defines the issues and results in one inadvertent "bad" vote or one election year driven "good" vote unduly influencing the rating of a legislator.

Therefore, we have tried to rate Utah’s Representatives and Senators on a broader scale in an attempt to be fairer to them and also to provide the public with a much more accurate picture of where their state legislators stand on the issue of illegal immigration.

We acknowledge that our ratings are based on our view that the negative aspects of illegal immigration must be addressed by citizens and elected officials at the state and local levels because the federal government refuses to carry out its responsibilities.

Unlike the proponents of illegal immigration, we along with the vast majority of our fellow citizens, do not believe that Utah can afford to sacrifice tens of thousands of Utah children to illegal alien driven identity fraud just so illegal aliens can get jobs.

We don’t believe that it is right for unscrupulous Utah employers to facilitate illegal alien driven identity fraud by refusing to verify the identities and legal status of their employees just so they can increase their profits.

Like our fellow citizens, we don’t believe that the taxpayers of Utah can afford the high costs associated with illegal immigration including classroom overcrowding and diverting money from academic programs for Utah children to English as a second language and other programs for the children of illegal aliens.

We don’t believe that Utah taxpayers should be financing Medicaid and food stamps for the American born children of illegal aliens.

We don’t think that we should be turning a blind eye to illegal aliens selling drugs to our children or to the deaths caused by illegal aliens on Utah’s highways and through their criminal activities.

Unlike the advocates for illegal aliens, we don’t think it is appropriate for employers to pay low wages and no benefits to illegal aliens nor do we believe that it is right for Utah employer’s to shift the health care cost of their illegal alien employees onto hospital emergency rooms and to Utahn’s with health insurance through higher premiums.

We don’t believe that it is right to provide illegal aliens with benefits that are reserved for American citizens and legal residents although the proponents of illegal aliens do.

Unlike many senior Utah law enforcement officials, we don’t believe that it is appropriate to give the 75% of illegal aliens committing document and identity fraud a pass in order to maintain good relations with the illegal alien community. We believe that law enforcement should apply former New York Mayor Giuliani's zero tolerance policy to illegal alien driven identity theft and document fraud as a means of improving the quality of life of all Utah citizens.

We don’t believe that we should be supporting and sustaining the culture of corruption that illegal aliens bring with them from their home countries because it results in rampant identity fraud, drug dealing, human trafficking, gangs, and shameless demands for ever more special benefits ranging from drivers licenses to in-state tuition and finally to full citizenship.

And like our fellow citizens, we don’t believe that Utah’s unemployed should be forced to compete with illegal aliens for jobs or that illegal aliens should retain their jobs while American citizens and legal residents are being laid off.

Thus, our rating criteria take all of the above into account and are designed to give the citizens a more comprehensive picture of where their Representatives and Senators stand in the illegal immigration debate. Those legislators with As and Bs put the citizen’s interest ahead of those of the illegal aliens and their employers. Those with Ds and Fs do just the opposite.

References:

Child identity theft in Utah: Based on information released by Utah Workforce Services and the Utah Attorney General’s office, it is estimated that as many as 50,000 Utah children have their identities being used by adults. In addition, 1,626 employers were found to be paying salaries to the social security numbers of children on public assistance under the age of 13.

Scope of identity theft: "Our assumption is that about three-quarters of other-than-legal immigrants pay payroll taxes," said Stephen C. Goss, Social Security's chief actuary, using the agency's term for illegal immigration. "Illegal Immigrants Are Bolstering Social Security With Billions," Eduardo Porter, The New York Times, April 5, 2005,